Review of American Heart

I must disagree with, really, all of those rating this film as "good". One reviewer did well to make references to the documentary he/she said this film was kind grounded with. But I don't think the film has much truth to it. Some reviewers here, do well by sharing their inability to care much for Bridges's character, but I couldn't care much about anyone in this version of "Seattle". I lived there from 1967 to 1943 - attended college, but got my BA after 16! years. I worked at part-time jobs at a bit over minimum wages and for awhile lived 4 blocks from "Kelson's" apartment building on Capital Hill. With a job like Jack's I may have earned more. Yes, I had contact with real nice people: students, musicians, even family; but I scarcely so little as SAW anyone like all the characters in this film. Even when I was living in Brooklyn, NY, I rarely saw any people like these. In the mention of the real Seattle documentary, it was said that "help" for people like Kelson was so rare. I'd suggest that people like Kelson were pretty rare in Seattle, too. In the style of presenting the characters here, there is inconsistency - spread out in just a few seconds. Kelson gives a few encouraging words to his son, and celebrates his Alaska plan of rebirth for them together, but when he promises to go earn more cash for rent, he goes out to play music (which he does well, esp. for a street performer). Good plan, but when we see him out there with his tenor guitar(?), he is being thrown out of a restaurant and is so drunk he can barely walk. Why didn't we see any scene to learn why that good plan he had had failed and went totally under.... it looks like he christened his fundraiser by having a dozen stiff drinks. The more normal citizens of Seattle are represented at vanilla androids. They hardly see anything or anyone. Get this > one character (hidden for your reading, now) RUNS onto a big ferry boat, crashing past other riders who get in his way... it's crowded with people boarding the ferry. Then, one of our characters catches up and shoots the other character in full view of many other passengers only a few feet away. Moments later, we see the man, on the ferry deck, alone, no-one seeming to have noticed that the man had been shot, and was dying. This wouldn't have happened that way. In another scene, Furlong's - Nick Kelson, is homeless and on the streets, finally we get to see a "normal" Seattleite drive by, then stop to offer him help. Of course, he's gonna hit on the kid, but Nick gets away. Yes, Seattle has its share of bad folks, but many good people, too. This film could have tried to grapple with the diversity. Gee, Kelson is working, washing windows inside a fancy looking bank lobby. When he see's Nick out on the sidewalk, why doesn't he drop his stuff and run out and talk to him. No, he shouts through the window and swears, screaming all the time. Sure, he gets fired, but how did a guy like this ever manage to get the job? SOMEONE must have given him the benefit of the doubt to hire him in the first place..... ALSO, I doubt the bank was his boss, and couldn't have "fired" him. Wouldn't they have thrown him out, then fired the window cleaning service? The one "good" person besides Nick, I'd say (and whoever gave Jack that job), is Charlotte. She's hard to believe for me though. Nice, yes ... kinda; but she is so accepting of Jack's worst behavior that it can't really help him want to change.